At Cross Purposes

Amy and Andrew loved each other very much. Bethan and Ben loved each other very much, too. Unfortunately, since Amy and Bethan, and Andrew and Ben, were conjoined twins and arranged such that if the pairs stood face to face Amy faced Ben and Andrew Bethan, some negotiations had to take place.

Amy and Andrew loved each other very much. Bethan and Ben loved each other very much, too. Unfortunately, since Amy and Bethan, and Andrew and Ben, were conjoined twins and arranged such that if the pairs stood face to face Amy faced Ben and Andrew Bethan, some negotiations had to take place.

“Well,” said Bethan, “the course of true love never did run smooth.”

It was decided that since Amy and Andrew had met first (on the train on the way to a scientific conference on conjoined twins – Bethan

had been sleeping beside Amy when Ben and Andrew had taken the opposite seats. Ben, as yet uninterested, had read the paper) it should be they who got to have sex first.

A night was chosen, a romantic double date planned. It was a little awkward at the table as Amy and Andrew leaned across their siblings to hold hands and gaze into each other’s eyes while they waited for the starter, and Bethan and Ben had to hold hands under the table. But the food was good and the atmosphere romantic. The wine was delicious, and although Bethan hadn’t wanted a drink, she was beginning to feel pleasantly fuzzy and cosy as Amy’s wine seeped into their shared bloodstream. Those due to be spectators that night began to feel less awkward, the star-crossed Amy and Andrew more bold and less worried about being the subject of such spectatorship.

When the pairs returned to Ben and Andrew’s house they were beginning to feel optimistic about the whole enterprise. Ben was even feeling a daring little frisson at the prospect of being an observer. Of course, he had seen his brother thus before, so that didn’t bother him, but seeing Amy would be an exciting prelude to when his time came with Bethan – after all the girls were (of course) genetically identical.

It was decided that Amy would go on top. This made things a little difficult for Bethan, who had to lie face down on a pile of pillows so that Amy could be at the right height, but sacrifices had to be made in the name of love. At first, Bethan tried to ignore the hormones of arousal and excitement that flooded Amy but made her own heart race, her face flush, her pulse drum in her ears. She closed her eyes tighter and turned up the volume on her ipod, but it was sensations and hormones that were flooding her awareness rather than sights and sounds.

Ben, rather unexpectedly, had fallen asleep. Later he would wake and describe the whole experience as like a wet dream – pleasurable but phantom.

Eventually – which was impressive since Andrew had waited long and been very exited about the event – it was over. The four rearranged themselves (Ben, unwoken) so that they lay all side by side in the huge bed.
Bethan lay in the dark, her eyes wide open, feeling Amy’s oxytocin pumping through their shared bloodstream and Andrew’s hand brush against her own under the covers. Filled with hormones and emotion as she was, she stroked it lightly. She was not rebuffed, and as the hand began to move up her arm and begin its gentle journey across her body she found herself thinking – “At least this makes things more convenient.”